Overcharging From TfL For Season Ticket Holders

SplashWellyKid

Are TfL routinely overcharging thousands of people who travel outside their season ticket zones? I've just spotted this error & wondered if it affects others:

I have a Zone 1 & 2 Annual Goldcard loaded on my Oyster Card. Making a rare journey last week outside my zones, I looked up the fares in advance & put enough to cover them on the Oyster for the PAYG extension part of the trip.

I'd realised been overcharged upon receiving my weekly statement.

- I travelled from my Zone 2 South London home station to Finchley Central 16:00+ on 6/3/15 & was correctly charged £1.70 peak travel for travelling from boundary Zone 2 to Finchley Central (ie Archway Station, which is on the boundary of Zones 3 & 4 and three stops from Finchley Central station on the Northern Line).

- However, on the return off-peak part of the journey, 21:15+, I was incorrectly charged £1.25 instead of £1 for the trip from Finchley Road back home. The TfL Single Fare finder states very clearly that the journey from Finchley Road to Archway is only £1 at that point. I have already paid for the remainder of the journey (all within Zones 1 & 2) with my Annual Goldcard.

I expected this to be some random glitch but the customer service operator confirmed that TfL have set up their system to charge an extra 25p for anyone remaining on the train for this trip.

She agreed that, had I got off the train at Archway, touched out & then touched in again (as I used to do when I had a paper season ticket & PAYG Oyster Card), I would have only been charged £1.

She couldn't see that I was being double-charged for a route I'd already paid for & that they should only be charging me from the end of Zone 2 (ie the boundary at Archway station).

Surely this cannot be allowed? If they are collecting in extra 25ps every journey someone goes over their Zone, that soon adds up. I'd say this looks pretty fraudulent double-charging commuters when they've already paid to travel a route.

I've been given a 'one-off' refund but told I'm not allowed any other refunds from TfL again - disgraceful, when it's their error.

Has anyone else spotted this? Do people know to check their usage carefully - I'm sure it must be happening at the boundaries on other lines too, so could be costing travellers a lot of money if they go outside their zones a lot.

From TfL site:

SINGLE FARE FINDER INFORMATION
From Finchley Central
To Archway
Passenger type National Railcard & Goldcard
National Railcards & Gold Card
Fares
Oyster
Peak: £1.70
Monday to Friday from 0630 to 0930 and from 1600 to 1900.
Off Peak: £1.00
At all other times including public holidays.
Cash
£4.80
At any time.

wealdroam

SplashWellyKid wrote: »

Are TfL routinely overcharging thousands of people who travel outside their season ticket zones? I've just spotted this error & wondered if it affects others:

I have a Zone 1 & 2 Annual Goldcard loaded on my Oyster Card. Making a rare journey last week outside my zones, I looked up the fares in advance & put enough to cover them on the Oyster for the PAYG extension part of the trip.

I'd realised been overcharged upon receiving my weekly statement.

- I travelled from my Zone 2 South London home station to Finchley Central 16:00+ on 6/3/15 & was correctly charged £1.70 peak travel for travelling from boundary Zone 2 to Finchley Central (ie Archway Station, which is on the boundary of Zones 3 & 4 and three stops from Finchley Central station on the Northern Line).

- However, on the return off-peak part of the journey, 21:15+, I was incorrectly charged £1.25 instead of £1 for the trip from Finchley Road back home. The TfL Single Fare finder states very clearly that the journey from Finchley Road to Archway is only £1 at that point. I have already paid for the remainder of the journey (all within Zones 1 & 2) with my Annual Goldcard.

I expected this to be some random glitch but the customer service operator confirmed that TfL have set up their system to charge an extra 25p for anyone remaining on the train for this trip.

She agreed that, had I got off the train at Archway, touched out & then touched in again (as I used to do when I had a paper season ticket & PAYG Oyster Card), I would have only been charged £1.

She couldn't see that I was being double-charged for a route I'd already paid for & that they should only be charging me from the end of Zone 2 (ie the boundary at Archway station).

Surely this cannot be allowed? If they are collecting in extra 25ps every journey someone goes over their Zone, that soon adds up. I'd say this looks pretty fraudulent double-charging commuters when they've already paid to travel a route.

I've been given a 'one-off' refund but told I'm not allowed any other refunds from TfL again - disgraceful, when it's their error.

Has anyone else spotted this? Do people know to check their usage carefully - I'm sure it must be happening at the boundaries on other lines too, so could be costing travellers a lot of money if they go outside their zones a lot.

From TfL site:

SINGLE FARE FINDER INFORMATION
From Finchley Central
To Archway
Passenger type National Railcard & Goldcard
National Railcards & Gold Card
Fares
Oyster
Peak: £1.70
Monday to Friday from 0630 to 0930 and from 1600 to 1900.
Off Peak: £1.00
At all other times including public holidays.
Cash
£4.80
At any time.

You might like to re-post your query here:

http://www.oyster-rail.org.uk/mixing-travelcard-and-payg/

The owner of that website will be able to offer a better explanation than TfL.

yorkie2

Without seeing a screenshot of your journey history, it's difficult to comment.

However I suspect you have been charged extra due to the (unfair) mixed-mode premium which applies for journeys for which part of the journey is on a National Rail 'red' route (ie, most National Rail routes with the exception of FGW, London Overground and dual-availability routes) in conjunction with London Underground including Zone 1.

I know what you're thinking: that's ludicrous because you've already paid for LU including Zone 1, but the system is absolutely bonkers.

Very few people understand this, and it would cost far too much for all Oyster Helpline staff to be trained to an adequate level to understand the complexities of the system.

See Oyster card fares with travelcard, mixed mode for an example of someone experiencing this ludicrously unfair overcharging. People on that forum are more knowledgeable than the Oyster helpine. The most knowledgeable on any Oyster matters is MikeWh, who runs the Oyster Rail website linked to in the above post.

SplashWellyKid

Thanks very much wealdroam & yorkie2 for both your answers.

From what you've said, the mixed-mode premium is likely to be the culprit. I am on the shared line between London Overground & National Rail. So, on the outward journey, we went via the Overground, Jubilee & then Northern (Charing X branch). On the return trip, we went on the Northern (Bank branch) to London Bridge & then picked up National Rail, as that was the quicker option.

Naturally, I would never have dreamed I'd be charge differently for whatever route I choose to take once I'm back inside the zones covered by my ticket. I fully expect to just be charge for taking those three stops outside Zone 2 in north London & the rest of my travels to be covered, as pre-paid.

I cannot see how TfL can justify this discrepancy - it's not ethical & it surely cannot be legal. I'll do a little more digging around, where you both advise. And will certainly apply for further refunds if it happens again, as I can't see how they can refuse to process any claim when this is an obvious overcharge!

Thanks for your help - if I find out anything interesting, I'll post an update here.